India hasn’t earned much international praise for its ‘abstention’ diplomacy.
It sat out on most UN resolutions to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, and now it is in sixes and sevens over balancing its stand on the Gaza war.
For a country that pioneered the non-aligned movement (NAM) under Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s leadership position is now seriously dented because of its dithering foreign policy.
Soon after the Hamas attack on 7 October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that he was “deeply shocked,” adding, “We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” The statement was reiterated in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The PM’s tweet was seen widely as a signal of its realignment with the US and its allies, and a debunking of its traditional support for Palestine. A scramble followed for a calibrated balancing on 13 October.
“India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders, side-by-side at peace with Israel,” spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in support of the two-nation formula.
Abstention politics
But then when it came to taking a hard stand, India abstained. On 27 October, Jordon moved a General Assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire of the relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip. It was overwhelmingly adopted by 121 votes. But India was among the 44 that abstained. In effect, it was an endorsement of the continuing slaughter of Palestinian civilians and children.
The Gaza approach was a continuum of India’s Ukraine stance. Last year, after Russia attacked Ukraine, and the UN Security Council, in an emergency meeting, took up the Ukraine invasion on 26 February, India and China stood alone in ‘abstaining’ from condemning Russia. The resolution was vetoed, and it moved to the United Nations General Assembly. Here too, while 141 countries condemned the invasion, India stood with 35 nations who ‘abstained’.
External Affairs minister S Jaishanker has in the past made a virtue of this ‘non-comital’ stance. Four years ago he spoke of “having many balls up in the air at the same time and displaying the confidence and dexterity to drop none”. But today India’s foreign policy seems to be failed jugglery with all the balls on the floor.
Look how far we have changed on Palestine. The Non-Aligned Movement that came into existence with a convention in 1961 of over 100 emerging nations, had a program of anti-colonialism, peaceful coexistence and upholding the sovereignty of the newly independent nations. Led by Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia and Pandit Nehru, India was at the forefront of the Palestine cause.
Who better than a 2014 External Affairs ministry note that records India’s engagement with Palestine.
“In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly. India was the first Non Arab State to recognize the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. India was one of the first countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988. In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.”
Changing pull and push
A few factors have dictated this change. Over the years, an equidistant policy with a pro-Soviet tilt has been replaced with closer ties with the US and its ally Israel. Israel has increasingly stepped in for emergency arms supply and is an important source of spy and security systems for India. There is a changing vocabulary for ‘terrorism’ and India, with its own cross-border issues, is in sympathy with the US definitions. More importantly, the recent aggressive Hindu majoritarianism has triggered a ‘natural’ pro-Israeli, and anti-Palestine tilt in foreign policy.
In the geopolitical realignment, India – a leader of the emerging bloc of post-colonial nations – has been reduced at best to a regional satrap warding off a hostile China by walking the tightrope between Russia and the US.
As the Gaza war intensifies, one can see countries like South Africa and Brazil picking up the mantle of leading the South where India left off. South Africa has recalled all its diplomats from Tel Aviv. So have Bolivia, Columbia and 6 other African and Arab countries in an aggressive show of condemnation of the continued decimation of Gaza.
Even as a regional leader, India which punched above its weight on the world stage, is facing rebuff from small nations. The new incoming president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, has asked the Indian government to withdraw its contingent of 70 soldiers from the small but strategic island nation. Sri Lanka has turned a blind eye to Indian warnings against allowing Chinese ‘spy’ vessel Shi Yan 6 to dock in Colombo. Even little Bhutan has signed a new level of diplomatic and border ties with China that are detrimental to India.
Foreign policy needs to be bold and clear so that it helps other nations reach a consensus for action. If we have shifted alliances, so be it and we vote for Israel. But a balancing act cannot go on forever. It is neither-here-nor-there, and earns no respect.